Cross Stitch Finish: Black Dog Sampler

I have a finished piece to share with you today. I took a piece to the framer and it’s back. I couldn’t be happier. Getting a cross-stitch piece back from the framer is like reuniting with a long-lost friend.

I often finish pieces myself cutting down old thrift store frames. But this time, I didn’t. I had taken two vintage frames to the frame shop. I use the shop Perfect Edge in Decorah, Iowa. I HIGHLY recommend them. They are fast and the prices are great!

I didn’t love either of the frames. They were okay but had zero wow factor. The owner of the shop looked at my two frames and totally agreed. She told me to go do my shopping. She said come back when you’re done and maybe I’ll have something.

She explained that she had a few miss-cut frames in the basement and she might be able to make one of them work.

I did my errands and then came back. She had the perfect frame…

I just loved the gold frame. I was trying to frame it with a black frame and for me, it wasn’t what I wanted.

I changed a color in the piece. The yellow thread the piece originally called for is kind of a poisin yellow. There was nothing warm about it. I wasn’t a huge fan of the color so I opted to use that yellow some of the time the rest of the time I use NPI 474. It’s the deeper darker gold. I ended up using the 474 if various flowers and use the called-for in other spots.

For those of you who might not remember, this chart is called Black Dog Sampler. It’s designer is The Scarlett House. Several of us did this as the New Year New Start Stitch Along.

Mine was stitching on Dirty Tea Cup Linen by Needle and Flax. I love her linen. This one is pretty mottled. You can see it near the dog. I love the look as it makes the piece look old.

I picked this one to stitch with the black dog as I had just adopted my dog, Izzy. She’s a black Aussiedoodle that looks total poodle.

I know someone will mention it…Yes, the whole alphabet isn’t there. Many antique reproduction samplers don’t have the whole alphabet. At the time, the letters weren’t standardized. Now they are. J’s and I’s were often interchangeable…other letters were that way too. It’s a reproduction and that happens.

I think I’m going to hang it here above my Come to the Garden piece. I need someone to come and hold there so I can see if I like the look.

I’m super happy with it. I had intended on working on the piece throughout the entire year but I jumped ahead and just finished it. I can be a little naughty that way. Sometimes I just get the itch to have something finished and I jump right in.

At the beginning of the post, I told you that I love my framer. I totally do. She will work with my vintage frames. She’ll do what she can to make my pieces reasonably priced to finish them. She did this piece in two weeks. I had called her and said I was coming to town and was just checking on the status of my piece. She told me that she had everything there but not assembled. If I stopped after I did my other errands, she’d have it ready for me…and she did. She also told me that she would use this miss-cut frame. She did and I love it and the entire framing of this with the frame, glass, supplies, lacing, and assembly was only $86. That is a steal when it comes to framing!! The place is called The Perfect Edge. This is a link to their Facebook page. They are in the process of moving to a newer bigger store so things might be a little slower right now but give them a month or two and they will be back to business as usual.

I’m so happy to have this one finished!! YAHOO!!